Tonbridge District
				120 Club results
				Programme for 2008/2009
				District officers
				Look to
				District towers

Shipbourne

Please note that, due to extensive work on the tower, there will be no ringing at Shipbourne until further notice. Bob Taylor tells us: At the moment I still do not have a firm date when we will be ringing again apart from the fact the roof etc is supposed to be completed by Christmas! However, I am hoping that the bell tower will be completed by the end of November. They have already replaced rotting beams within the tower area and re-leaded the roof (so at least the buckets placed in strategic locations are now redundant). Although they are on schedule at the moment progress is weather driven. We'll keep you posted.

The latest edition of Look to (currently 2008 Fourth Quarter) is now available online. Actually you don't have to download it, you can just read it online if you like. Simply click on the Look to link at the top of this page. The email address for Alex Staff, Look to's editor, is what_moriarty@hotmail.com. During his absence in Germany snail-mail contributions should be sent to The Editor, Look To, c/o Vailima, St Michael's Drive, Otford, Sevenoaks TN14 5SA. Note that the copy date for the first issue of 2009 is 26 December 2008. Round off that Christmas lunch by penning an article for Look to!

120 Club

The second draw of the 2008/2009 series took place on 15 November during the Surprise Major practice at Speldhurst, and details are shown below. The blue background entries are the current series, while the brown ones are last year's for interest and comparison.

Ray Taylor, the Club's treasurer, writes

Well done Tonbridge District! Three shares were sold just before the draw at the ADM at Penshurst meaning that 120 shares have been sold for another year. Thank you to everyone who has contributed. I was delighted that Phil (a newcomer to ringing and the 120 Club) won the double 1st, and that Keith (who many of you will know from Edenbridge and has supported the Tonbridge District 120 Club from Devon for four years) won the double 2nd prize.

Feeling really smug, I checked to see how the other Districts' 120 Club shares are selling. Instant desmugging followed. Canterbury has so far sold 175 shares in their 120 Club!! So, if you are kicking yourself that you have missed out again then get in touch with me. We can consider increasing the number of shares available and the number or value of prizes. Here's how it works:

• Anyone over 16 can buy shares in the Club (registered charity) at £10 each — it's not restricted to KCACR members or even to ringers. Each share has a number which goes into a draw at a District event, starting with the ADM in October and ending with the quarterly meeting in July. There are no draws in August or September. The prizes are usually £20, £15 and £10, but they are doubled in the months of October and January. All numbers go into the draws, whether taken up or not, and the proceeds from the 120 Club go to the KCACR Bell Restoration Fund, which is also a registered charity. If 120 shares are sold then that amounts to £640 a year after paying the licence fee.

If you would like to buy a share then please contact me on 07973 123323 or at ray.taylor@easynet.co.uk or download an application form here.

ADM 2008

At the ADM held at Penshurst on 4 October 2008 there were no changes to District officers, and the following were elected unopposed for 2008/9:

• Chairman: Jane Nielson
• Secretary: Tessa Worthington
• Treasurer: Mike Bullett
• Ringing Master: Catherine Lewis
• Assistant: Catherine Heathcote
• District reps on General Committee: Catherine Lewis, Tessa Worthington
• Committee members: Bobbie Fairclough, Eric Roughley, Alex Staff (also Look To editor), Mike Worthington

Memorial to Brian Jeffrey A very attractive plaque has been installed in the ringing room at Cowden in memory of Brian. (There are other items on Brian and Betty below.) Many thanks to Sue Shepherd for the photo. A peal in memory of Brian and Betty was rung at Cowden on 23 August 2008, and details are available here.

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Peter Romney Afraid the bad news still keeps coming. Peter Romney died peacefully just after midday today (14 September). A quarter peal on handbells preceded the funeral at Hadlow on Monday 22 September, and there was general ringing after the service. It was great to see several of Peter's grandchildren having their first pull on a bellrope under the expert eye of Stan Jenner. Peter was a Vice President of the KCACR, having served the Association in many ways over many years, including a time as Hon Gen Secretary, BRF committee convenor and Chairman of the Tonbridge District, to name but a few. Our thoughts are with Margaret and the family.

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	Ken Dickinson More sad news as we report the death on 10 September of Ken Dickinson of Otford. Although not a ringer, Ken was a great friend of ringers. It was he who, back in 1998, after his wife had died, decided that a fitting tribute to her would be a ring of bells at Otford. In November 2000 the four new bells together with two existing ones were rung full circle for the first time. He became an associate member of the KCACR at this time. Although in poor health recently, Ken took a very active interest in the bells and the ringers, often coming to the tower to listen to ringing, and frequently meeting the ringers in the Crown afterwards. He will be greatly missed. The funeral at Otford on Tuesday 16 September attracted a near-capacity congregation. A really good half-muffled quarter was rung later in the day and a half-muffled peal of Kent TB and Plain Bob Minor was rung on Friday 3 October.
Ken and Peter at the try-out of Otford bells in October 2000

Bob Sherlock Bad news still seems to be emanating from the Tonbridge District. We are very sorry to announce the death early on 29 August of Bob Sherlock, one-time tower captain at Brasted and a long-time supporter of the Tonbridge District and the East Grinstead & District Guild. He was just about a month short of his 84th birthday and had been in a care home for the past 18 months or so. The funeral service at Brasted on Wednesday 10 September was attended by a large congregation, particularly of ringers, filling the church pretty well to capacity. Several quarters were rung in the county in memory of Bob, and a peal was rung at Brasted on 28 September. Our thoughts are with Jane, his daughter, and Ben and Dan, her two sons.

Betty Jeffrey

We are very sorry to have to announce the death on the morning of 18 August 2008 of Betty Jeffrey of Edenbridge. She was the widow of Brian who sadly died in May.

The funeral was on Friday 29 August at Edenbridge and the church was once again packed almost to capacity. There was open ringing before and after the service, and many of her old ringing friends were able to pay their last respects to Betty.

Our thoughts are with Andrew, Peter and Richard.

Sandhurst

Please note that from 19 August 2008 until further notice there will be no Tuesday practices at Sandhurst. This is due to the fact that the headstock has been removed from the fifth pending the reinstallation of the fifteenth century "John Bell" (see here for details of this work).

Tonbridge District win the 8-bell

Congratulations to the Tonbridge District on winning the County 8-bell striking competition for 2008. Full details are available here. Oddly enough the last time that the 8-bell contest was held at Westerham the method was, as in 2008, Oxford Bob Triples. This event took place in 1990 and the Tonbridge District won then too. A pretty steady record, we'd say.

Otford

Bobbie Fairclough sends us the following note about Sunday ringing at Otford:

Please note that, with immediate effect, there will be evening ringing at Otford on only the first Sunday each month from 5.45 to 6.30pm. Morning ringing continues as normal from 8.45 to 9.30am on every Sunday.

Brian Jeffrey We are very sorry to announce the death on 13 May of Brian Jeffrey of Edenbridge. He was 71. The church was packed to capacity for a very moving funeral service at SS Peter & Paul's Church, Edenbridge, on Wednesday 28 May. Ringing prior to the service was by local ringers, and there was open ringing afterwards. Betty writes: I and our family would like to thank all ringing friends for their letters, cards and support since the loss of Brian. Brian was a loving husband, father and grandfather and a great friend to others, and is very sadly missed. The attendance at the funeral was a great tribute to him, and we thank you all very much. Our thoughts are with Betty, Andrew, Peter and Richard.

Striking competition 2008

The District striking competition took place at Lamberhurst on 3 May 2008 and nine teams took part (the same as in 2007). Once again we ran two consecutive contests, one for call changes and one for methods, with five entries for the former and four for the latter (again the same as last year).

The judges were Chris and Sue Bassett from Staplehurst, and they judged the two parts of the contest separately, giving the results after each section. They were able to sit in the sunshine just outside the churchyard, where there is a wonderful view across the valley, marred to some extent these days by the Lamberhurst bypass.

In introducing their decisions they said that they'd enjoyed the ringing, although the bells seemed to be a bit oddstruck, but as ever some bands coped better than others.

The chairman proposed a vote of thanks to the judges, the vicar for the use of the bells, and to all others who had worked to make a successful event — especially the tea ladies. The final results were declared as follows (it seems sad that the little-known hamlet of Otfening was deprived of a win in the call change section on a technicality):

Call changes
team	rang	faults	position
Sevenoaks	1st	44	1st
Brasted	3rd	48	2nd
Tonbridge	2nd	55	3rd
Lamberhurst	4th	82	4th
"Otfening"	5th	36	Scratch team, so not placed
Methods
team	rang	faults	position
Tonbridge	3rd	23	1st
Sevenoaks	1st	40	2nd
Brasted	4th	60	3rd
"Some others"	4th	65	Scratch team, so not placed

Sevenoaks, the call change winners	Isabel Pearce receives the call change trophy on behalf of Sevenoaks
The mysterious "Otfening" band who had the fewest faults in the call change section	Catherine Heathcote blows out her candle . . .
. . . and prepares to do her stuff with the knife	Tim Lynch (again) accepting the method trophy on behalf of Tonbridge

Trivia Evening 2008

Saturday 19 January was the occasion of the fifteenth Tonbridge District Trivia evening. Twenty-one teams were present for a very enjoyable evening. The quizmaster, Frank Lewis, presented a balanced set of questions which kept all teams involved. The average mark for the eight rounds of questions, including two Jokers which allowed double marks, was a very respectable 66.

The winners were TWSRN (Those Who Shall Remain Nameless) with a score of 78. Nameless they may remain, but there was a striking resemblance to persons from a significant town based on the Medway. The quizmaster presented the team with the winners' shield and "valuable" individual prizes (see photo below).

The first six teams in the competition were:

• TWSRN (scored 78)
• Jays (75)
• Pisstachio Nuts (75) (their spelling — not mine)
• Clapper Snappers (71)
• Leighkly Lasses (70)
• Leighkly Lad (69)

During the interval a delicious chilli supper was served with a vegetarian option, followed by a selection of puddings which presented a cholesterol calamity, but were delightful. The raffle, with the usual plethora of prizes, raised a very significant £330.

A big thank you to Jane Nielson and the District Committee together with other helpers for another wonderful evening, which was again a financial success with a total contribution (including raffle) to the BRF of £828.30; and a special thank you to our quizmaster Frank Lewis.

Eric Roughley

Thanks also to Eric for being a very slick scoreboard operator. After fifteen successful years you can see why we bill this do as The Trivia Evening!

There are a few piccies below. If you hover over the small image you'll see the caption; click on the small image to see a larger version, then click on the <back> button on your browser to return to the thumbnails again. Once on the large version you may right click and choose to save it on your own computer.

Any old ropes?

Slightly surprised to see a couple of used bellropes on sale in a fairly classy Westerham antiques shop recently (they used to be called junk shops when I were a nipper). We wonder where the ropes came from — replies on a postcard please to Webmaster. Thanks to Catherine Lewis for the piccies and for being so observant.

Programme of events for 2008/09

Once again we've produced a programme to last around to the first quarter of 2009. This is to ensure that all events appear in the KCACR Handbook right round until the next edition.

A new feature was added for the first time in 2007. You'll notice that all venues appear in blue and are underlined. This means that if you click on the place name you'll be taken directly to a largish scale map. At the top of the map, just under KCACR, there is a scale indicator, and you can click on this to make the map smaller or larger as you wish. Have fun!

For a downloadable copy of the programme to go on your tower noticeboard click here. Print it out on a bit of coloured paper so it stands out on your noticeboard.

They're in!

Chevening is now an eight, with the two new trebles being installed on 10/13 December. The two newbies weighed in at 3-1-21 and 3-2-13 respectively.

The pictures show (from top left) drilling for the frameside fitting of the new treble; lowering the new second into place; the two new bells safely hung (treble rear left, second on the right). More photos will hopefully be available soon, as will some more details of the rather complicated installation process. After all, most augmentations don't involve drilling holes through 8 inch concrete floors for the ropes — especially when there is only just over 3 feet clearance for the drill. The first practice night on the octave took place on 18 December, and they are a delight to ring.

Carol service 2007

One of the Brasted youngsters, flanked by electronic gizmos, rings call changes at Tonbridge		General chitchat during the mulled wine break
Brewmeister Frank dishes up the red stuff for Roger Cowcill		People are never this intent at District meetings

The District held its annual carol service at Tonbridge on 8 December. Despite the almost perpetual rain a congregation of between 45 and 50 turned out to sing as only ringers do. We were glad to welcome our friends from the East Grinstead Guild to join us in this event — and in fact we even let their ringing master, Anthony Leeves, look after the ringing. A sum of £95 raised from the collection and wine donations was divided between the bell restoration funds of the two societies. Thanks to all who helped to make the event a success yet again.

First peal for Richard Bourne

The peal board to the right of the photo records one of the achievements of the Lamberhurst band back in 1930. Nothing too spectacular — just a simple old peal of 26 Spliced Surprise Minor by a local band. Mind you, they did knock out 31 local peals between 1930 and 1939, so they were probably in practice. Not quite in the same league, but just as satisfying to the band, was a peal of Plain Bob Minor on Thursday 18 October 2007. This was a first peal for Richard Bourne, who learnt at Lamberhurst, but sadly now rings at a tower out of the District. Also in the band was Catherine Heathcote who recently took over as Lamberhurst's tower captain. Congratulations to both — this was probably the first time since the heady 1930s that a home grown ringer and a member of the local band have rung a peal at this very pleasant six. The band was: Richard Bourne (1st peal) Treble, Catherine Lewis 2, Catherine Heathcote 3, Eric Roughley 4, Frank Lewis 5, Stan Jenner Tenor. The peal was rung to mark the retirement of Rev Diana Bourne (Richard's wife) and the licensing or her successor, Rev Mandy Carr (to whom thanks for the photo). The photo shows (left to right) Catherine L, Frank, Eric, Stan, Catherine H and Richard.

Karol becomes a reader

After two years' training, Karol Leeves (a ringer at Speldhurst) was admitted as Reader and licensed to the Parish of Speldhurst with Groombridge and Ashurst by the Bishop of Tonbridge at a service in Rochester Cathedral on Saturday 13 October 2007. A quarter peal was rung on the back eight (instead of the planned Caters as one ringer's train was cancelled) by seven Tonbridge District ringers together with the Association Hon Sec who rang with Karol when she was a member of the Speldhurst band. Karol's nerves were again tested when she preached at Speldhurst on Sunday morning — not for the first time, but it was the first since being admitted as a Reader and I guess she thought we would expect more now. She need not have worried, and she received many compliments, some		from people quite moved by what she had to say. Nibbles, wine and a special cake followed the service. She and Anthony had been invited to lunch with friends. What Karol did not realise until she arrived was that so had 25 others — as someone commented, it is not often she is lost for words! She soon recovered to enjoy the occasion. To finish the weekend celebrations, a quarter was rung at Speldhurst with Karol taking part. We all wish her well in her new role. Above is a picture of the new readers at Rochester. Karol is fourth from the right. Thanks to Mike Bullett for the photo — it came out pretty well considering it was taken on his phone!

St Nick's in the news

Well, in the Chronicle really. A reporter and a photograher ascended on Sevenoaks tower on practice night 1 October 2007, resulting in a double page spread the following Thursday. We weren't able to provide a link to the Chronicle's website, so we've included a photo of the page. The writeup was very good by journalistic standards, the only goof spotted being a caption stating that one of the band was about to "peel" the bells. We always thought that this was an actvity restricted to jam-makers and Page Three girls.

What can I send? A write-up of your tower outing, your ringing tips and hints (anything from learning bellhandling to Spliced Surprise), historical snippets from the history of your tower, anecdotes from an interesting practice you attended on holiday, other announcements and - of course - your quarter peals and peals! Send your articles to: what_moriarty@hotmail.com [note that it's what_moriarty, and not a space in there] Or, during his absence in Germany, The Editor, Look To, c/o Vailima, St Michael's Drive, Otford, Sevenoaks TN14 5SA

Lamberhurst

The KCACR BRF gang have been busy at Lamberhurst. Click here for the latest.

Tonbridge District sets up mailing list

After a lot of thought, and following a discussion at the recent District committee meeting, it has been decided that we would set up a District emailing group, and this is your invitation to join this group.

Several other KCACR Districts have such a group and they are proving very useful as a means of talking to other ringers in the area. Quite a few people use the lists to drum up ringers for weddings or quarter peals, announce cancelled practice nights, remind folk that subs are due, that articles are due in for the District newsletter, or that tickets are on sale for this, that or the other event. You could ask for help in learning to ring something. Reminders may well be sent out that there's a meeting coming up. And so on.

The system works pretty simply. At the end of all this blurb there is a box [Subscribe to tonbridge group] to enable you to join the list. Enter your email address and click on the logo. The system will then send you an email to confirm that you really do want to sign up. The email will give you the option to go to Yahoo! Groups or reply by clicking reply and then send. If you want the simple life choose the latter. The other option offers more facilities but unless you're happy with online registrations you might wish to avoid this for now (you can always change your setup at a later date).

I have to approve applications, so there should be no chance of unwanted subscribers slipping in. One of the parts of your application is your email address. Note that you can only post messages from this address, and not from any other addresses (such as work ones) you might have. This again is to ensure that no rogue postings slip through.

Once you're signed up you can post messages to a single address for all other members of the group to read and, if they feel like it, reply - again to all the group. Think of it as a crowd sitting round a table in a pub after ringing.

Go on, be adventurous and sign up. It seems a great idea to use modern technology to help link ringers who practise very old technology.

If you have any queries or are unsure what this is all about, please get in touch here and I'll try to help.

Frank Lewis

District communication You will be glad to know that despite modern technological advances in the 20th (and now the 21st) century, ingenuity and inventiveness are still alive and well in the Tonbridge District committee. One of our members does not have access to email. So, what does a girl do but resort to more traditional means of communication?

Chiddingstone history

There's a long and detailed history of the bells at Chid on their local history website. It was written by Lucile Corby and has an enormous amount of information covering over 400 years. Well worth a visit - click here to check it out.

For training day and general information ring the ringing master: Catherine Lewis on 01959 563767 (email cmlewis@btopenworld.com). The District secretary may be contacted at tondist@btinternet.com.

For KCACR training stuff in general click here.